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Rowan Mangan

Writer. Mom. Wild Inventurer.

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How to talk to Ro and Marty on Bewildered

December 2, 2021 10 Comments

Hi folks! We have a new kind of Bewildered episode, called “The BeWild Files,” which will feature listeners’ voices and our responses. YAY!

Please find instructions below for sending a voice message to the Bewildered podcast. We love hearing from you, and while not every submission can make it onto the BeWild File episodes, we do try and listen to as many of them as we can.

How to talk to us? Read on!

(But first, a little tip about the kind of content that will be played. Keep the tone light, make the conundrum real and relatable, and extra points for absurdity and a quirky look at this bewildering world.)

Please check these instructions carefully, as we can’t use any messages that don’t adhere to these guidelines.

1. Using the Voice Memo (or equivalent) app on your phone, record a brief (45 seconds or less) message. At the beginning of your message, please say that we have your permission to use your voice on the podcast.

2. How do I do that? If you have an iPhone, there should be an app on your phone called Voice Memo. If you don’t, try Googling “How to record a voice memo on my [PHONE NAME] phone.”

3. When you have your message recorded, check that you’ve stated your permission at the beginning, you’ve checked that it’s less than 45 seconds, and you’ve saved it.

4. Email the voice file to our email address: BEWILDEREDTHEPODCAST@MARTHABECK.COM (note that there’s a “the” between “bewildered” and “podcast.”) You will receive an autoreply if your submission is received. If you don’t, double check the email address.

5. How do I email it? Google is your friend.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

This article originally appeared on Rowan’s Wild Inventures substack newsletter. To subscribe and get all Rowan’s posts in your inbox, head over to Wild Inventures on substack now. 

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Filed Under: Work inventures Tagged With: bewildered podcast

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Comments

  1. Susan Dean says

    December 27, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    Dear Rowan and Marty, WOW! What an absolutely wonderful podcast you’ve created!! I’m bingeing and loving every moment. It’s a pure delight to hear smart and funny women. Thank you, thank you!
    Best, Susan Dean

    Reply
  2. Adriann says

    February 10, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    Hi guys! (yep, I use that all the time too)

    Firstly, thank you for the wonderful job that you do in creating this podcast.
    I just listened to ‘The Productivity Addict’ and holy cow did you nail some fortuitous topics – not to mention give me a wonderful slice of time that was filled with out loud laughter (perhaps strange behavior in an office setting, but extremely welcome to me!) – thank you 🙂

    Second thing to address… Martha, I too have the tsunamis of shame that will rear up out of nowhere and smack me. WTF is up with that?!? However, lately it seems that my thinking monkey brain is being even more sadistic and giving me flashes of intensely crystal clear moments of grief – so intense in my body that they create immediate tears and wrenching hollowness in my gut. My observer self can see what is happening, but my animal self still reacts. I (observer self) wonder why my brain is doing this, and why is it doing it at moments that I am trying to reach states of deep calm? It’s like a toddler screaming ‘LOOK AT ME!!’ It is also all the more powerful because it sneaks up on me in moments of stillness and sucker punches me. I honestly had the thought to call and leave a message for BeWildered asking about this all this week! I am still interested in the dynamics of what is happening here and I think it needs more investigation.

    And now to move on to PERFECTIONISM… oh that sneaky bastard. I think that I am more of the Rowan type when it comes to this (though if I actually DO put something out there the gremlins definitely start in on the ‘people be judge-y’ side of things). When I have ideas for projects I will plan them to death instead of starting them/editing them/etc. I am a MASTER of detailed lists, diagrams, and sketches of how I want to execute something. I also get caught in the continuous fiddling with things to prolong being ‘done’ with them. I read a really good quote (but I can’t remember what book or person) that said something like ‘art never gets finished, you just get to a point and have to release it’ or ‘let it go’ – or something like that (I wonder if it was the ‘ship it’ guy). That was so spot on. Release the hounds!

    I have a few projects that need my attention and I have been shying away from them because of those nasty thoughts that perfectionism puts in your head (not good enough, there is such a glut in the market how can you even DREAM of putting your work out there, ad nauseam). But, your comments on not releasing something as a kind of selfishness, and what good is something going to do living in a drawer – that struck a cord with me.

    I have an UNDERPAINTING (yes, Marty you had me rolling with that story) that I have extremely high hopes of and doubts of being able to duplicate what is in my head.
    AND I have a book that I wrote and have been trying to figure out next steps (and floundering horribly with). The ‘getting it out there’ is uncharted territory to me. I have also had some out of the box thinking on this project as well (see ‘glut in the market’ to stall enthusiasm). It’s just the DOING that has me stymied. I WANT to share and connect with people – I REALLY DO! The comment about the ‘worst thing in your life/cave/giving others a way to navigate it’ made me tear up.

    EVERYTHING that the two of you talked about in this podcast spoke so deeply to my truth (and I have been living out of integrity for soooooo long). I know it’s a bit woowoo but your conversation was so specific and dovetailed a little too neatly with things that I need to work on. Now I just have to find the energy and faith to DO and figure out the HOWs.

    Thank you both for the amazing work that you do, the wisdom you share, and the bright spots in my day that you create 🙂

    Reply
  3. leslie says

    April 11, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    Your podcast is keeping me sane. Every one is a gem that soothes my soul.
    I’m trying to figure out how to study what I need to know and how to know what I need to study. My husband is dying of a strange cognitive disorder that has caused dementia. I’m afraid it’s genetic and has been increasing slowly for a long, long, time – maybe the entire 25 years I’ve known him. He has three kids, two of whom are ours together. I can’t stand to see their dear personalities disappear into this long deep well of sad incapacity, so I want to do the genetic & neurological research to really make a difference. CRISPR-cas technology can repair genetic defects. I want to make a real intellectual contribution to the effort. But, at 55, being low-income with a sick husband, Idon’t have the time, money, or perhaps even the brain power to get a doctorate in biochemistry & do post doc research. How do I get to that level though? I don’t want to do fundraisers and awareness work and leave research to the experts. I have a burning desire to be the expert. I want to do it non-traditionally. But how??? I don’t care about credentials so much. What I care about is real knowledge.

    Reply
    • Emily Keane says

      February 28, 2023 at 12:33 am

      Just take one little step . See if you can enroll at a community college or local university and take a preliminary class to taste it out. Don’t look how long it will take or if you cannot afford it (the money will come if this is your passion and it sounds like it is ☺️). One little small step at a time and you might just see the magic unfold .

      Reply
  4. Betsy Ewen says

    April 20, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    I just have to share- I just finished your bewilderment podcast about anxiety (I laughed out load several times, you guys are worth your weight in gold)
    The subject was right on target- I too have a great life, yet still have anxiety.
    I want to share 2 examples of my coping that you guys touched on.
    1. everything is new, the past is lost: When I have anxiety I can’t talk down I simply say ” oh, we’ve already processed that, or oh, we already healed that”. I don’t even have to know why I’m anxious and this will work.
    2. I love to watch golf while quilting. For some reason the voices calm me. Anyway, when a cheer goes up, I pretend it’s for me- works like a charm!

    Reply
  5. Lamb Bennett says

    September 8, 2022 at 10:38 am

    Bewildered podcast is a healthy, wholesome meal to be consumed daily.

    Reply
  6. Brenda says

    September 12, 2022 at 11:00 pm

    Cave early is so fantastic thank you for doing the podcast so helpful

    Reply
  7. May says

    February 6, 2023 at 7:05 pm

    I love you, I do. Perish the thought that little me should offer a correction but I have to. On the productivity podcast, when you reference Schindler’s List, Oscar Schindler is not in regret in the way you are describing, it isn’t that he can’t appreciate the greatness of what he’s done because he can’t stop and accept the gratitude. It is regret over the careless expenditure of money for things like cigarettes, jewelry and excess at the beginning of the war when he was enjoying his lavish lifestyle instead of how every penny could have bought another jewish life. He is realizing the gravity of those foolish acts now in their full strength. Still love you and listen to every wise word!

    Reply
  8. Jacquelene Ohmert says

    March 28, 2023 at 4:44 am

    Hello, thank you

    Reply
  9. carrie says

    May 20, 2023 at 10:32 am

    never enough episode…yes and now I am trying to figure out what to do with the regret of trying to please and missing my life. My finish line was pleasing unpleasable parents and a midwestern culture which is happiest being miserable and pessimistic. Thing is these parents also have not wanted much to do with me outside of judge for my adult life. I wonder if others have had to pretend, they have had parents their whole life to those who have had them, otherwise it becomes a worse extended old war, and you fall into a doom vacuum. Yet, I am stronger for not staying a child like they often are in older adulthood without the autonomy.

    Reply

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One of the best nights I’ve ever had. My body is One of the best nights I’ve ever had. My body is sore from all the bopping. I feel like so many angsty past versions of myself got to come out and ROCK tonight—and so did my very happy current self on date night with my wife. BASKING. Thank you @anidifranco, and happy birthday!
@themarthabeck @lprnyc #anidifranco #righteousbaberecords
Have you ever tried The “No” Test? Bestselling Have you ever tried The “No” Test? Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert has, and she tells Martha and Rowan all about it on this episode of Bewildered. The No Test is a way of gauging someone’s reaction when you set a boundary. If the person reacts negatively in any way or pushes back against your “no”—well, that's a bright red flag in the relationship. To find out what happened when Liz tried out The No Test, and the changes she made in her life as a result, be sure to catch the full episode. 

@bewilderedpodcast
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Current configuration of our ever-wacky, ever-chan Current configuration of our ever-wacky, ever-changing, ever-bewildered household. Ultimate village living. 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶
“What am I serving?” That’s the question to “What am I serving?”

That’s the question to ask yourself, Martha says, when you want to tell the difference between what you’re being pushed to do by the culture, and what you’re being pulled to do by your true nature.

Rowan adds that there are little corners of our personality that are being served all the time, often by mundane work—but “just because it’s not sexy doesn’t mean it’s culture.”

Join Martha and Ro for this episode of Bewildered where they explore the differences between culture and nature when it comes to hard work, and how you can find strength in the struggle.

You can listen to Episode 60: Wild Horses, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck
@bewilderedpodcast
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #meaningfullife #honeybadger #wayfinderdreams #changecycle #lifecoach #lifecoachtraining #soulawakening #waystationdreams #boydvarty #liontrackersguidetolife #londolozi #spiritualawakening #ifs #ifstherapy
There are many things that are extremely difficult There are many things that are extremely difficult that we just feel driven to do, like raising a family or pursuing a dream.

“In the service of a dream,” Rowan says, “there is hard work that is going to be part of that journey. And yet, even though the work itself isn't enjoyable, it's still our nature to pursue it.”

Join Martha and Ro for this episode of Bewildered, where they’re talking about the place in our true nature for dogged, determined work—even when it's not fun—and why the struggle is always worth it.

You can listen to Episode 60: Wild Horses, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck
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New spot, same smile ✨✨✨ @themarthabeck New spot, same smile ✨✨✨ @themarthabeck
Have you ever played with one of those cartoon fli Have you ever played with one of those cartoon flipbooks, where you thumb through the pages and the drawing seems to move?

Rowan says that because we're trapped in physical bodies, we experience the flow of change like a flipbook—in incremental progressions that have a jerky, stop-and-start quality of movement

However, that staccato effect is just an illusion because we haven't got a great perspective on what's happening, which in reality is just beautiful, constant flow. 

Tune in for this episode of BEWILDERED® to hear Martha and Ro talk about adjusting your perspective, letting go, and allowing yourself to move with the flow of change.

Listen at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app. 

@bewilderedpodcast
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #strangerthings #australia #koala #wombats #enidblyton #entrepreneur #africa #londolozi #vanlife #costarica #dream #dreambig #waystation
Lil punkin Lil punkin
Why would you be given a dream if you aren’t sup Why would you be given a dream if you aren’t supposed to realize it?

This is a question Martha and Ro are exploring in this episode of BEWILDERED®, Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations.

They compare pursuing your big, life-changing “way station dreams” to playing a video game with many levels—there’s always a bit of fear and you’re always going to have to defeat the “big boss” of the game, which is culture. Figuring it out is the fun part.

As Ro says, “You don't always have to spend something to make a way station dream come true, but you do always, always have to risk something—that's being wild.”

Tune in for the full conversation to learn how to overcome cultural obstacles and bravely pursue your wildest dreams. (Spoiler alert: The risk is worth it!)

You can listen to Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck 
@bewilderedpodcast 
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #strangerthings #australia #koala #wombats #enidblyton #entrepreneur #africa #londolozi #vanlife #costarica #dream #dreambig #waystation
Have you ever looked back at all the big points, o Have you ever looked back at all the big points, or way stations, along your life’s journey and how they led you to where you are today?

It’s a fascinating exercise, and Martha and Ro are diving into it in this episode of BEWILDERED®, Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations.

Martha notes how her life arc took her out of academia, on to business school, to eventually running her own business, to developing a passion for going to Africa, to meeting Rowan there, to having their daughter Lila.

As Rowan jokes, “You taught business school in your 20s because we were going to have a baby to complain about in your 60s.”

Join them for this fun and fascinating episode to explore the idea of way station dreams and how you can recognize the ones that are waiting for you.

You can listen to Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck
@bewilderedpodcast 
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #strangerthings #australia #koala #wombats #enidblyton #entrepreneur #africa #londolozi #vanlife #costarica #dream #dreambig #waystation
Martha says life is like a game of “you're getti Martha says life is like a game of “you're getting warmer, you're getting colder.” There are dreams that are red hot that pull you toward them, and these become way stations along the journey of your life.

In this episode of BEWILDERED®, Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations, Martha and Ro explore the idea of way station dreams and how to pursue them despite the huge resistance you’ll get from the culture—which always tries to dash the dreams of the individual.

As Martha says, “Moving from one important way station to another is basically writing the story of your life, so don't let anyone else make that map for you.”

To find out more about how to overcome cultural pressures to plot your own course, be sure to tune in for the full conversation.

You can listen to Episode 58: Dream Dashers and Way Stations, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck 
@bewilderedpodcast 
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #strangerthings #australia #koala #wombats #enidblyton #entrepreneur #africa #londolozi #vanlife #costarica #dream #dreambig #waystation
Our culture wants us to segment our deep creativit Our culture wants us to segment our deep creativity into tiny chunks of productivity: 

🕟 Get up at 4:30 and meditate!
🕔 Then gratitude journal!
🕠 Then get on the treadmill!
🕕 Then get your creative work done before anyone else wakes up!

The only problem with this is that we’re human beings…not robots. 

In this episode of BEWILDERED®, Episode 57: The Deep, Slow River of Creativity, Martha and Ro explore a seasonal approach that’s more aligned with our wild human nature.

As Martha puts it, “If you're going to do something long term, it has to be something you care about enough to see it through the winter, to let it go fallow.” 

And as Ro points out, when we’re in a fallow period, “we're mending our nets, we’re repairing things, we're doing things inside in front of the fire—we're replenishing ourselves.” 

To hear more about how you can learn to trust the seasonal flow of creativity in your own life, don’t miss the full conversation!

You can listen to Episode 57: The Deep, Slow River of Creativity, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@bewilderedpodcast
@themarthabeck
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #vanlife #creative #creativity #bewildfiles #author #authorlife #creativewriting #parentproblems #flow #creativeflow #audrelorde
Are you struggling to focus on a big creative proj Are you struggling to focus on a big creative project amidst a sea of distractions?

Don’t worry, says the culture, you can get it all done if you just have the moxie!

Whether or not you have this so-called moxie is beside the point. As Ro says, only some tasks we need to do are finite and easily checked off our list, while other things are part of what Martha calls the deep, slow river of creativity—a force that can move mountains.

In this episode of BEWILDERED®, Episode 57: The Deep, Slow River of Creativity, Martha and Ro talk about how we can make the commitment to stay connected to this river, even when life interferes (because it always will interfere), and stake our claim to a creative life.

Don’t miss it!

You can listen to Episode 57: The Deep, Slow River of Creativity, access the show notes, and find links to resources on our website at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@bewilderedpodcast 
@themarthabeck 
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #vanlife #creative #creativity #bewildfiles #author #authorlife #creativewriting #parentproblems #flow #creativeflow #audrelorde
Every once in a while the stars align and the thre Every once in a while the stars align and the three of us manage to get dinner together in New York. Always the same restaurant. Always the same table.

These nights of laughter and storytelling are like colorful beads I’ve been collecting—a series of perfect evenings strung between years, the breadth of a continent, a pandemic, the birth of children. But we keep coming back, and it’s always just as precious as it was tonight.

Thank you, Maria: you’re such a glowing jewel in our lives. Next stop Croatia! 

@mariashriver @themarthabeck
Goodbye, sweet goof. 💔 Goodbye, sweet goof. 💔
Have you ever tried telling the story of your life Have you ever tried telling the story of your life backwards?

For example, Martha was raised Mormon but then left that faith, and that made her a radical out-of-culture maverick. But describing that in reverse—Martha was meant to be a radical out-of-culture maverick, so she was born Mormon.

It’s interesting to look back from the moment you're in now and see if the seeds of what you love were planted long ago in ways you didn't understand at the time. 

In this episode of Bewildered®, Martha and Ro talk about these seeds as being part of the strange and delicious phenomenon they call “the pull.”

Listen to the full conversation to find out how you can recognize this mysterious force and follow it to create magical shifts in your life.

Listen at the link in our bio—or on your favorite podcasting app.

@themarthabeck 
@bewilderedpodcast 
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#bewildered #bewilderedpodcast #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #wayfinder #wayfinderlifecoach #rowanmangan #marthabeck #naturenotculture #funny #funnypodcast #funnypodcasts #themarthabeck #trackinglife #thepull #metaphysical #beginnersmind #dreams #vanlife

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